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Andrew Owens

An Exxon-trained oil man Owens, 45, invested £300,000 in 1992 founding Greenergy to trade in what was, at the time, a new concept: low-sulphur petrol. As the oil majors muscled in, Owens decided to switch attention to carbon itself. Greenergy makes car fuel from oil seed rape. By buying oil from the Continent, South America, Russia and Africa and mixing up low-carbon versions for supermarket pumps, Greenergy has grown with its customers, the largest of which is Tesco. In 2006-07, it made £17.5m profit on £1.1 billion sales. Tesco and Barclays Bank are important shareholders in the £170m business. Owens has a 33.1% stake, worth nearly £58m.